Google, for the umpteenth time, has updated how it shows links and carousel link cards in AI Mode and AI Overviews. Google always says this is to encourage searchers to click from the AI response to the publisher or creator, but it feels as if those efforts to drive clicks from AI search continue to fail.
Google released several updates to how it links in AI Mode and AI Overviews. Here is the short version with images below:
- Google increased links in AI Mode and AI Overviews
- Google is placing some of those links higher up in the AI responses
- Google will show one or two links to the "right web page" for some queries that deserve it
- Google is expanding the timely article carousels to more regions and languages globally
- Google has more prominent link designs for related articles
- Google is testing linking Search profiles from creator and publisher names on videos within AI Mode, but those links go to Google pages, the Search profile page, first
Google also said the number of people who use preferred sources has increased by more than 7X.
I commend Google for trying, but it seems like Google continues to try to make links more prominent and continues to say they do this to encourage searchers to click on the "more clickable design."
But if Google wants to really show us those efforts, they should give us the click data in the AI performance reports already. We want click data, Google knows we want click data but Google tells me, and I quote "We're continuing to work with website owners to understand what insights will be most helpful to inform their strategies, and we’ll introduce additional metrics over time."
The metric we want and find most helpful is clicks. It is also the number one metric for Google Ads.
Here are screenshots and videos of the features:
Top One or Two Links:
Related Articles Thumbnails:
Prominent Carousels:
Search Profile Creator/Publisher Links:
One of the areas we’ve been pushing on in Search is making it easy for you to find relevant sites, first-hand perspectives, and content from sources you love. And we’re seeing that this work is resonating - the number of people who’ve used Preferred Sources to select sites they want to hear has grown by 7x since the beginning of the year.
Today we’re sharing some new and upcoming updates to AI Overviews and AI Mode to help you find links to click out and dive deeper:
➕ More inline links embedded directly in the response ➕ A new section at the top of a response that prominently highlights the 1-2 links you need to complete a specific task or find exact info ➕ News carousels available globally for timely topics — which also highlight your Preferred Sources (see image below) ➕ Dive Deeper section that features a more clickable design with image thumbnails ➕ Clickable publisher and creator names in video results to see more of their work
We’ve also continued to expand and evolve our commercial partnerships with news publishers, and now over 400 publications worldwide are part of our News AI pilot licensing program where we pay for the delivery and use of enhanced content to develop new AI features.
We’re committed to iterating and improving as we learn and hear feedback, so give these new features in Search a try and let me know what you think!
— Nick Fox (@thefox) October 15, 2026
Forum discussion at X.
